Book Reviews
the binary oppositions of sexuality and death, reason and aggression, isolation and the individual: Eroticism is displaced from woman to death; and if in American society death tends to be treated as a taboo, the power elite nevertheless operates through institutionalised violence, (p. 67, 70) Avoiding a chronological discussion, the author creates a kind of analytical pot-pourri, in one instance drawing from Hegel, Jonathan Swift and Voltaire to illustrate Kubrick’s obvious fascination with all aspects of 18th Century “ Enlightenm ent” . Such eclecticism serves to exemplify the textual complexity of Kubrick’s cinema. It also reflects the enormous multi-disciplinary research the film maker does at the commencement of each new project. In the chapter concentrating on both 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969) and The Shining, Ciment reveals that a primary focus of Kubrick’s art is the search through the “ fantastic” and its myths for the “ re a so n ” behind the “ irrational” which governs human kind. The Shining is particularly open to psychoanalytic reading and Ciment draws upon key elements essential for understanding its dynamic narrative: The gradual erosion of the frontier between the ego and the world, the real and the imaginary, character istic of schizophrenia — is visible, (p. 135) Similarly, the author traces the Oedipal link between the eye and the phallus, most clearly evident in 2001: It united instinct with intelligence and was linked with the presence of the monolith (the eye of the ape, of the leopard, of HAL 9000, of the astronaut, of the foetus) preceding each of m ankind’s advances. (P- 144) Ultimately, Ciment’s view of Kubrick is that of a “ disillusioned roman tic” who regards life as either a tragedy or a grotesque farce. His oeuvre involves the exposition of both instinct and subconscious, while promoting “ reason” as the real solu tion, though never at the expense of one’s primal self. This argument is best supported by Kubrick’s responses (and those of his colleagues) to Ciment’s well-directed questions. Three interviews spanning a decade also reveal the director’s desire to rationalize his work in psychoanalytic
terms. In A Clockwork Orange (1971), for example, he describes Alex (Mal colm McDowell) as representing the unconscious: man in his natural state, pre-civilized. With regard to The Shining, he speaks of Freud’s essay on the ‘uncanny’ (“ the uncanny is the only feeling which is more powerfully expressed in art than in real life” ) as alone justifying the supernatural genre. Disappointingly, the rarer inter view on Barry Lyndon (1975) is drier and more superficial. In the final interviews, James B. Harris (“ People would listen to Stanley that much more attentively and work that much harder out of respect for him” ), Ken Adam (“ A creative director can add a whole new dimension to your work which you wouldn’t have thought possible” ), John Alcott (“ Working for him is like * going to school and being paid for it” ) and Julian Senior (“ Few people know how to plan their lives as meticulously and pragmatically as Stanley” ) pro vide some interesting anecdotal material and an insight into the mechanics of the director’s craft which Kubrick was either too modest or too apprehensive of misinterpretation to elaborate upon. The Kubrick which Ciment’s por trait evokes, however, is not without contradiction. The author asserts: One of the major obsessions of Kubrick’s films — the desire for absolute control over people and things and its inevitable correlative, the terror of losing control — informs the very practice of his craft. Anxiety, even despair, are at the core of Kubrick’s work; they are also the driving force of his creative activity, (p. 122) Ironically, this romantic image of traditional artistic angst seems to belie the very content of Ciment’s text since Kubrick’s insatiable desire for control touches even his biographers. Not only did Kubrick select many of the stills and frame enlargements himself, but a footnote explains that the director’s interviews were “ revised” and “ ex panded” at Kubrick’s request. There are also a couple of problem atics eschewed by Ciment’s analysis: for example, the criticism of misogyny often levelled against Kubrick and comments such as “ The final shot of 2001 is perhaps the only really peaceful image created by an artist more at ease in nightmare” (p. 107) ignore the important accusation (by authors Susan Sontag, Robert Phillip Kolker et
al) of a fascist ideology operating within the text. Aside from these few lapses, how ever, Ciment’s Kubrick remains an authoritative guide to the cinema of this polemical artist. As an introduc tory work (with its extensive biblio graphy), or as a supplementary text, it has quite a deal to offer.
Joseph McBride J.P.T. Archer/Imp., $11.95 (PB) The second volume of this valuable book. F ilm m a k e r s in C o n v e r sa tio n
Columbia College/Imp., $9.20 (PB) Screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors and producers express the reality of film making. Directors H o w a r d H a w k s , S to r y te lle r
Recent Releases Mervyn Binns
Gerald Mast Oxford University Press/Oxford University Press, $59.95 (HC) A critical biography of the American director Howard Hawks. P e c k in p a h
T h is c o lu m n lists a s e le c tio n o f b o o k s o n sa le in A u s tr a lia u p to A u g u s t 1984, w h ic h d e a ls w ith th e c in e m a a n d r e la te d to p ic s . T h e p u b lis h e r s a n d th e lo c a l d is tr ib u to r s a r e lis te d b e lo w th e a u t h o r in e a c h e n tr y . I f n o d i s t r ib u to r is i n d ic a te d , th e b o o k is i m p o r te d ( I m p .) . T h e r e c o m m e n d e d p ric e s liste d a r e f o r p a p e r b a c k s , u n le s s o th e r w is e in d ic a te d , a n d a r e s u b je c t t o v a r ia tio n s b e tw e e n b o o k s h o p s a n d s ta te s . T h e lis t w a s c o m p ile d b y M e rv y n R . B in n s o f th e S p a c e A g e B o o k s to r e , M e lb o u rn e .
Garner Simmons University of Texas/Imp., $26.95 (HC) A critical survey of the work of the director of The Wild Bunch and other outstanding films. Criticism C h ild r e n ’s N o v e ls a n d th e M o v ie s
Edited by Douglas Street F. Ungar/Ruth Walls Books, $14.50 (TPB) A survey of the films made especially for children. N e w G e rm a n F ilm — T h e D is p la c e d I m a g e Timothy Corrigan Texas University Press/Imp., $13.55 (PB) The best book, so far, about the new German film scene.
Popular and General Interest Cinema History C o w b o y M o v ie s
Norman Richards Bison Books/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $6.95 (HC) An illustrated history of Westerns with black and white, and some color illustrations. A great bargain at this price. T h e D a r k S id e o f th e S creen : F ilm N o ir
Foster Hirsch DaCapo/Australia & New Zealand Book Co, $25.95 (TPB) An exploration of the film genre that captured America’s dark mood in the 1940s and ’50s. T h e H o lly w o o d H a ll o f S h a m e
H and M Medved Angus & Robertson/Angus & Robertson Publish ers, $14.95 (TPB) The most expensive flops in movie history, by the author of 5 0 W o r st M o v ie s E v e r M a d e . H o r r o r M o v ie s
Daniel Cohen Bison Books/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $6.95 (HC) An illustrated history of horror films with black and white and color illustrations. M u sica ls
Daniel Cohen Bison Books/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $6.95 (HC) A concise, but well-illustrated (color, and black and white) history of film musicals, at a give-away price. Screen G o d d e sses
Daniel Cohen Hamlyn/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $9.95 (HC) S cien ce F ictio n M o v ie s
Gregory Richards Bison Books/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $6.95 (HC) An illustrated history of sci-fi films, with black and white, and some color illustrations. An up-todate coverage at a very good price. A u s tr a lia n M o v ie s to th e W o r ld — T h e In te r n a tio n a l S u ccess o f A u s tr a lia n F ilm s S in c e 1970
David White Fontana/Cinema Papers/William Collins, $12.95 (PB) This book gives an insight into how the Australian film industry has become accepted, artistically and commercially, on the international scene since 1970. Illustrated with many black and white photographs. Large format paperback.
C in e m a s o f A u stra lia via th e U S A
Ross Throne Architecture Department/University of Sydney, $25.50 (TPB) This book, published 1981, but not released until now, is well illustrated and gives a comprehensive history of movie theatres in Australia. Reference T h e G o o d F ilm a n d V id eo G u id e
David Shipman Angus & Robertson/Angus & Robertson Publish ers, $14.95 (PB) David Shipman’s selection of more than 5500 English and foreign language films. T h e V id eo Y e a r b o o k
Angela and Elkan Allan Virgin Books/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $11.95 (TPB) A survey of new films released on video. W h o ’s W h o in th e M o tio n P ic tu r e In d u s tr y
Edited by Rodney Gregg Packard Publishing/Imp., $26.95 (TPB) Hollywood directors, producers, writers, cinema tographers and studio extras — credits and addresses. Television T h e M a k in g o f th e J e w e l in th e C ro w n
William Collins/William Collins, $12.95 (PB) An illustrated book about the making of the tele vision series and the background to the story. T h e T V S c r ip t- W r ite r ’s H a n d b o o k
Alfred Brenner Writer’s Digest/Bookwise Australia, $22.95 (HC) Everything you want and need to know about writing for television. Novels and Other Film and Television TieIns B o d y lin e
P. Perriman Fontana/William Collins, $5.95 (PB) The novel based on the television mini-series. D ia n a
R.F. Delderfield Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, $7.95 (PB) The novel, now a major BBC television serial, by the author of A H o rs e m a n R id in g B y and T o S e rv e T h e m A l l M y D a y s.
Biographies, Memoirs, Filmographies
S p la sh
— M y W ic k e d W ic k e d W a ys Pan/William Collins, $5.95 (PB) A new reprint of Flynn’s own story.
Ian Don QB Books/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $4.95 (PB) The novel based on the smash hit film.
P rin cess G race
A u f W ied erseh en , P et
E r r o l F lyn n
Sarah Bradford Weidenfeld & Nicolson/Hodder & Stoughton, $19.95 (HC) The biography of the poor little rich girl, who became a top movie star and a princess. Filmmaking F ilm m a k e r s o n F ilm m a k in g : V o lu m e I
Alex (Malcolm McDowell), right: man in his natural state. Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.
F ilm m a k e r s o n F ilm m a k in g : V o lu m e 2
Joseph McBride J.P.T. Archer/Imp., $11.95 (PB) This book is drawn from more than a decade of lively discussion between Fellows of The American Film Institute and some of the world’s most distinguished filmmakers.
Fred Taylor Sphere/William Collins, $4.95 (PB) The novel based on the current Central television series. R o m a n c in g th e S to n e
Joan Wilder Avon/Gordon & Gotch Distributors, $3.95 (PB) Now a major movie starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. V en g ea n ce
Leslie Caron Pavanne/William Collins, $4.95 (PB) A collection of stories put together by this wellknown, motion picture actress.
CINEMA PAPERS October — 373